All posts by: Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque

Learning to Listen – Lola Akinmade Akerstrom ’98, M.S. ’02

As an award-winning travel photographer and writer, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom ‘98, M.S. ‘02, information systems, uses her keen sense of sight to show her readers the wonders of the world. But it was at UMBC that she learned another valuable skill that has touched every aspect of her life, from career to parenting: listening.

Her trip to UMBC was an unexpected one, but a welcome opportunity when the universities in her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria shut down due to strikes in the mid-1990s. With extended family in Maryland, Akinmade Akerstrom had traveled extensively growing up but had not been an international student on a U.S. campus before.

As she settled into her new life in Maryland, she began to notice some differences between the cultures. People attempted to frame her story for her instead of listening to her, she said. Culture shock set in.

“For the first time in my life I encountered the American idea of Blackness,” shares Akinmade Akerstrom, a contributor for National Geographic, BBC, Lonely Planet and other media outfits. “In Nigeria, I was used to understanding people based on their cultural and ethnic differences, not their race, and we saw those differences as positive. That is how I saw the world, as well, and how people had seen me.”

In the U.S., she said, people made assumptions based on her skin color and accent. Unsure of her place in this new world, she stopped trying to explain through the noise and began, instead, to listen. This meant not reacting to people’s judgments, assumptions, and misconceptions – and letting go of hers, as well.

“I began to see what people were doing to me and I had to learn to not do the same. I learned not to frame or define someone upon initial meetings. I let go of all assumptions or predetermined narratives,” she said. It was not easy, but it was important to her to understand this new culture and build her own new community.

“Nigerians make the best of any situation. We don’t quietly fade into the background. We must show that we are here, that we exist,” she said. Akinmade Akerstrom immersed herself in the UMBC campus culture by joining the African Student Association, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and the Intervarsity Rugby team. She also enrolled in art and guitar lessons to develop hobbies that provided her balance. “My experience in college was culturally rich because I specifically sought out those sub-communities. It taught me to not allow others to define me.”

A year after graduation, Akinmade Akerstrom was hired as an information systems architect and programmer in Dayton, Ohio. She loved the position, but Dayton, devoid of the international vibe and extended family she had enjoyed in Maryland, was a true testing ground for the skills she had developed while on campus.

In need of an international community, Akinmade Akerstrom took a chance and approached Denton’s then-male-only rugby team with an idea.

“I walked onto the field and said, ‘I’m here to help you start a women’s rugby team.’ Their expressions were priceless,” remembers Akinmade Akerstrom. She was right. International women came from across Ohio to play and the team went on to win their division and develop some of the best rugby players in Ohio.

Over the next decade, she developed a thriving career and a strong community, which made it easier for her to take more risks. On a whim, she volunteered for Mark Burnett’s Eco-Challenge- Fiji, an international physical endurance team race. Her task was to travel to Fiji and listen to the athletes, the locals, the experts and document the impact of the race within a host country. The work also required her to post daily articles and pictures. Up until then, she had only taken pictures during her travels to inspire her paintings. But soon, the world of travel photography and writing became a viable career option and a true passion.

After four years of practice and confidence building, Akinmade Akerstrom decided to leave her twelve-year career as a geography information systems architect and programmer to become a full-time freelance travel photographer and writer in Stockholm, Sweden.

She was excited. Her family was terrified. Up to this point in her life, she had followed her parent’s advice by pursuing an approved traditional career. Having a minor in geography, the major she would have chosen for herself, was a compromise. This time, she listened to their concerns respectfully, but knew she could not be defined by limitations others wanted to place on her – even if they had the greatest intentions.

“My parents had a cultural mindset that felt being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or having tech experience was the most lucrative career choices,” says Akinmade Akerstrom. “My mom was deeply worried about me when I decided to freelance full time. Ultimately they both wanted me to be happy. Initially, she wanted me to tell people my degrees when I introduced myself as a travel photographer and writer. Now my mom is my biggest fan.”

Akinmade Akerstrom’s ability to go into unfamiliar places and listen continues to be the foundation of a path that keeps evolving. Today as a Nigerian woman married to a Swede, being trilingual, and raising a family in Sweden, she is focused on leading the way for creatives of color to not be limited to working within their own cultural context, but to be accepted as authorities in other cultural contexts of which they are a part of.

“Just because I am African, I don’t always have to write about Africa. I can write about Swedish culture and write about it with authority,” says Akinmade Akerstrom.

“Above all, listen to people tell their own story the way they want to tell it,” she says. It is a skill she is passing down to her daughter, along with her love of travel. “I do this for my daughter. So when she grows up and someone tries to put her in a box and tell her this is what she can’t do because she is Black, mixed, Nigerian or Swedish. Then she can say, ‘Have you met my mom?’”

Images courtesy of Lola Akinmade Akerstrom.

 

Windows to the Past

When Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, was asked to lend his expertise in 19th-century U.S. history to help understand a unique artifact found during the Walters Art Museum renovation of the 1850s mansion at 1 West Mount Vernon Place (known to many as the Hackerman House), he was intrigued. 

The item in question was a letter dated December 6,1861, and written by Sybby Grant, a highly skilled cook enslaved at the house, to her owner John Hanson Thomas. Casper joined the exhibition’s academic advisory committee – including experts from Morgan State University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and independent researchers – in studying the letter within the contexts of enslaved people, 19th-century Baltimore, and domestic spaces.

“We also looked at approaches to telling the stories of enslaved and employed people and how to connect particular works and artifacts in the Walters collection with the lived history of the house,” explains Casper, whose previous research includes examining the lives and experiences of enslaved African Americans in domestic settings, as well as the uses of historical evidence and memory in excavating and interpreting the lesser-known stories of historic homes.

Grant’s letter paved the way for the Walters to shift the way they present not only the history of the house but also the stories that are subtly and directly represented by the art displayed at the museum. The letter is now part of a larger exhibit by ceramicist Roberto Lugo, who is known for creating fine art ceramics using traditional techniques and incorporating portraits of people of color in history to help the world remember their contribution to society and become accustomed to seeing people of color’s faces in fine art. Grant’s letter inspired Lugo to create a series of works about working women of color.

The Walters researchers once again found a partner in UMBC at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Special Collections, which houses photography, books, and archival collections, as they searched for images of freed, working class, Black women in Baltimore. 

“Researchers from all over the world work with us to use digital copies of our collections,” said archivist Lindsey Loeper ’04, American studies, who helped with the request. “Our original works are also available for exhibit and have been displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. The Walters request was a challenge because in the 1800’s even working class white women were not being photographed or documented.” 

The answer was found in The Baltimore African American Family Album, which contains professional portraits of African Americans from the 1860s and 1870s. The people are unidentified, and most of the photographers are also unidentified, as well. One in particular caught the eye of the Walters researchers: a portrait of a woman in a dress. The photograph inspired two fine arts ceramic tiles that now hang above the fireplace at 1 West, in what used to be the main dining room, as a tribute to Baltimore’s working women of color.

“Although I don’t know these women’s names, I know the history of my own family and they, too, are nameless, as we only have records going back a few generations, because my family used to be property,” shares Lugo. “My work in ceramics is an effort to include a community that has yet to find a place of prominence in ceramics. I’m thankful to UMBC for having such an important collection and being such an asset to our community culture and history.”

 

*****

Artwork by Roberto Lugo and Sybby’s letter, courtesy of the Walter’s Art Museum. Archived photography, UMBC Special Collections. 

 

CS3 leads research summit on community-based violence prevention in Baltimore

Lauren and Vibha sit in a conference room deep in the middle of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They wait patiently as faculty and staff from UMBC; the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB); the University of Maryland, College Park; Baltimore City government officials; and staff from Baltimore-based non-profit organizations fill the round tables.

This is the Research Summit on Violence Prevention and Community Engagement hosted by UMBC and UMB. In a room of about fifty attendees ready to discuss the impact of violence prevention efforts in Baltimore, Lauren and Vibha look at each other, knowing they bring a different voice. Both recent UMBC alumni and graduate presidential fellows at UMB, they are here to speak as young Baltimore researchers, who care deeply about their communities and want to be involved in the research aimed at making their city safer.

UMB graduate students discuss violence prevention in Baltimore with UMBC’s Lauren Edwards, public policy (right). Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

“I am the community”

Lauren Highsmith ‘15, education, introduces herself to the room after a conversation about the need to work with the community. “I am the community. Please remember me,” she says. “I am a master’s student in social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. I was born in West Baltimore and continue to live in the area. Don’t assume the community is just what you see on television. The community are also people like me who are working in the field and doing research.”

Vibha Rao ‘14, biological sciences, M22, claps after her friend’s statement. She is from Gaithersburg, Maryland, but lives, studies, and works in Baltimore. In the last decade, she has earned her undergraduate degree and a medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and she is currently pursuing an M.S. in clinical research.

Rao has been deeply affected by the experiences of her undergraduate and graduate peers from Baltimore whose family members have been killed by gun violence. “Their experience having grown up and gone to college and medical school in Baltimore is starkly different than students outside of Baltimore,” she says. She worries about the normalization of gun violence and wants to be part of research to address it from a medical perspective. She shares, “I don’t want violence to be normal anymore.”

Human- and community-centered research

The research summit was organized by Christine Mallinson, director of UMBC’s Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3) and professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture, and Kate Tracy ‘03 Ph.D. and ‘01 M.A., psychology and human services, who is associate professor of epidemiology and public health and director of The Richard and Jane Sherman Center for Health Care Innovation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. As one focus for the day’s work, Mallinson and Tracy asked participants to explore both immediate and long-term supports for communities served through the UMB Community Engagement Center. During the breakout sessions, they asked attendees to identify how they might engage more undergraduate and graduate students from Baltimore, like Highsmith and Rao, in community-facing research on violence prevention.

Mallinson (l) and Tracy (r) address the purpose of the summit. Photo courtesy of UMB.

“We wanted to purposefully use this summit to convene as many researchers as possible to examine, discuss, and share expertise and data,” Mallinson says. “Our intent is increasing collaboration and resources beyond this room, between institutions and the community, to create tangible, applicable and responsive human- and community-centered research in violence prevention with and for Baltimore.”

During the day-long event, UMBC faculty and staff representing the School of Public Policy, media and communication studies, visual arts, The Hilltop Institute, The Shriver Center, Division of Student Affairs, emergency health services, and psychology gathered for group discussion in different areas of violence prevention research. They met as cohorts focused on data, community involvement, K-12 and higher education, clinical interventions, and the intersection of the correctional and health systems.

Responding to the call from the morning discussion, the groups developed ideas for how to support the UMB Community Engagement Center through each of their focus areas, particularly building on existing work by community members. They also identified a timeline to continue the cohort work beyond the conference. 

“Collaboration between academic and community partners is key for successful violence prevention research, and developing the next generation of innovators by harnessing the talents of our undergraduate and graduate students in this process is essential,” shared Lucy Wilson, M.D., graduate program director of emergency health services at UMBC.

After the summit, the participants walked through two thought-provoking exhibitions, David Hess’s “Gun Show,” with life-size sculptures of assault rifles made from ordinary objects, and a photo series of homicide locations in Baltimore City by Amy Berbert’s ’17, visual arts. Both artists created the pieces to foster dialogue and awareness about guns and violence.

Highsmith and Berbert discussing the photo exhibit. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11, for UMBC.

As everyone spoke with the artists, and with each other, reflecting on the day, Mallinson took this opportunity to connect with Lauren Highsmith and Vibha Rao. She wanted to hear their perspectives, and their advice, on how to engage and include more undergraduate and graduate students from Baltimore in violence prevention work, to ensure it tackles the most pressing issues, recognizes community work already underway, and can have a lasting impact.

Banner image: Event organizer Christine Mallinson (r) speaks with summit participants. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Start at UMBC & Go Everywhere

by Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque

UMBC may be nestled in the small town of Catonsville, but over the years the university has become a crossroads of international research, civic engagement, and a welcome center to anyone pursuing the life of a global citizen.

But, what makes UMBC such an international campus? The famous flags in The Commons? The answer is much deeper than that. It’s a commitment to envisioning an inclusive path dependent on intercultural collaboration that has created a thriving world of possibilities through which to engage in all the world has to offer.

UMBC’s windows-to-the-world philosophy has caught the attention of some big names recently. Times Higher Education recognized UMBC as one of the world’s top young universities, and The Center for World University Rankings recognized us as one of the top 3.5 percent of all universities worldwide. Most recently, the Professionals in International Education (PIE) included UMBC as the only U.S. finalist for a 2018 PIEoneer Award, in the Student Support category.

Accolades aside, one thing is for sure — if you start at UMBC, you can go anywhere because you will have all the support that you need. So, feel free to move around the world.

You Are Welcome Here

True Grit welcomes all to UMBC

UMBC’s visual connection to the world begins where visitors first set foot on campus: on the bricks of the Administration Building drop off circle. There, hellos in dozens of languages — from “Witamy” in Polish to 欢迎 in Mandarin — make it clear that all are welcome. Walking down Academic Row, you can hear what a global campus sounds like — from President Hrabowski practicing his French with faculty from the Caribbean, to students and faculty sharing conversations in English, Korean, Hindi, Hebrew, Urdu, Spanish, Igbo, and Italian, just to name a few.

Students share their talents at PANGEA, an annual cultural showcase.

International pride is most evident in The Commons, where 156 flags hang to represent the countries our students come from; it is also the home of 26 cultural and ethnic student organizations. Over the last decade around 1,000 international students have made UMBC their home, both for short- and long-term study.

“We have a group of Japanese students attending in the spring for intensive English training and community service projects. In the summer we will host a group of high school students from the United Arab Emirates for a three week STEM and English Academy,” explains Sarah Gardenghi, director of the English Language Institute, which offers customized English language instruction. “Each of our programs focuses on the needs of the international student so they feel at home at UMBC, safe in our community, and connected with our students, faculty, and staff.”

Students at UMBC take pride in their cultures, languages, and traditions — and love sharing them with the campus community. One popular annual event, PANGEA, is a cultural showcase celebration organized by the student-led UMBC Cultural Showcase Board during Welcome Week. The event centers on sharing food, dance, and traditions important to the cultural and ethnic groups on campus as a way of welcoming students and encouraging all to get involved.

Many students swim, run, bat, or kick their way through college. At UMBC, international athletes are an important part of the athletic culture, sharing their world-class skills in a welcoming environment while preparing for the next level of their athletic career. For some that means Olympic level.

Mohamed Hussein ’14, mechanical engineering, M.S. ’16, engineering management, represented UMBC in swimming and diving for three seasons and was part of the Egyptian swim team in the 2016 Olympics. Cleopatra Borel ’02, interdisciplinary studies, was an NCAA women’s shot put champion and has participated in four Olympic games as a member of the Trinidad and Tobago track and field team. This year there are 375 student athletes on campus, and nearly 10% are international athletes.

“I thought it was impossible to find a home away from Cairo, but the support I get from my teammates and my [swimming] coach, Chad Cradock ’97, gives me so much energy and power to be my best self in the pool and in real life, too,” says Hania Moro ’19, financial economics, who holds an Egyptian National Record in the 400 free, and last year came in first place for the Retrievers in the 500 and 1650 free.

Learning Without Borders

Lola Akinmade Akerstrom

Cultural and social engagements are just the beginning of UMBC’s global mindset. The core of understanding the roots of the world’s most pressing problems begins with conversations between people with different perspectives. When research crosses international boundaries, the sky’s the limit.

Tim Nohe, professor of visual arts and director of the Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA), embraces international research opportunities. In 2016, he shared ten years of his research on globalization in Botany Bay, Australia, which he completed as a Fulbright Senior Scholar fellow. This semester, via CIRCA, he hosted a visiting scholar from Nanyang Technological University School of Art, Design, and Media, and connected her with assistant professor of linguistics and French Renée Lambert-Brétière.

“International research welcomes a space to meet people that you wouldn’t in your regular day. Those personal touches last. You are never the same person after that exchange,” says Nohe. “You are greater than before by embracing these new social networks, affinity groups, and professional connections that are incredible for your own personal growth.”

The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) houses many departments and programs that help students develop an interdisciplinary way of understanding based on human and social theories about world economies, internationalization, global education, global environmental changes, communication, culture, and art methodologies.

The Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI) department, which offers classes in 11 languages, helps students understand language in a culturally appropriate context for work and play. It also is the center of graduate studies for students who are combining language work with issues of media, communication, education, and diversity, including through the language, literacy, and culture graduate program. Retrievers wanting a daily immersion experience to prepare for future opportunities can be found sharpening their intercultural skills with their peers and native language resident mentors as residents in the Intercultural Living Exchange.

“I was a graduate student in MLLI. Both my graduate programs had many international students. The department was all about studying cultures all around the globe,” shares Romy Hübler ’09, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. ’11, intercultural communication, Ph.D. ’15, language, literacy, and culture. Hübler is a native of Germany who now serves as assistant director of the UMBC Center for Democracy and Civic Life.

A field trip to Baltimore's Russian Festival.

“It helped me gain a greater understanding and had a big impact on me. It made me want to explore some of the areas where other students were from. I studied abroad in Spain and in Mexico.”

Attention to international viewpoints drives the Global Studies program, an interdisciplinary major focusing on issues of internationalization in the political, social, cultural, and economic realms, both locally and in the world. Students from majors of all types are part of this program.

Felipe Filomeno, assistant professor of political science and global studies, came from Brazil and has made UMBC his second home. In his Approaches to Globalization class, students engage in critical questions about personal, local, and national identity and how civic engagement can help influence government policies and create more cosmopolitan communities. Last fall he took a class to the Russian Festival hosted by the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in East Baltimore, and his students also produced the Baltimore Intercultural Calendar, which, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, is set to become the official calendar of festivals celebrating global cultures in Baltimore city.

Culturally specific programs and departments like ancient studies, Africana studies, and Asian studies, as well as courses in languages such as Arabic also offer students an opportunity to specialize in a unique global community. These options not only respond to the constantly evolving world of academia, but also reflect the cultural makeup of UMBC’s student body.

Tackling Global Challenges

The College of Engineering and Information Systems (COEIT) attracts the majority of UMBC’s international students. It is also home to a Global Engineering course specifically designed to meet the needs of companies with offices around the world looking for employees that have both the technical engineering skills and intercultural intelligence to work with diverse groups.

Led by Marc Zupan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, the course began in collaboration with the University of Porto in Portugal and expanded to include La Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia during mechanical engineering professor Chuck Eggleton’s Fulbright experience there. Using video teleconference, teams across three countries developed the intercultural and technical skills to solve global engineering challenges with attention to localized issues. Some students even had the chance to travel to Porto to meet their Portuguese colleagues in person.

“The incubation for the Global Engineering course came several years ago from our work with companies and agencies that hire our students and them saying, ‘We love the students you send us. They are well-defined engineers but they would be more effective if they had an international experience,’” says Zupan. “The research also reported a low percentage of engineering students going abroad. My goal was to reduce all barriers by creating a class that aligned entirely with major requirements and employer needs so students could take advantage of the depth of learning that happens when you incorporate other cultures, languages, and physical locations.”

In the last decade, UMBC has helped 51 Fulbright recipients travel and learn around the world. Pictured: UMBC's 2018 Fulbright awardees.

UMBC’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program, based on the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering, was brought to UMBC by Marie desJardins, former associate dean of COEIT. It is now led by professor of the practice Maria Sanchez, director of Education and Outreach in COEIT. Students from all three UMBC colleges develop an individualized course plan to gain the content knowledge, technical skills, and a team-centered, interdisciplinary approach needed to solve 14 challenges facing the world, such as access to clean water, or an economical solution to solar energy.

“We want to deepen the global consciousness of faculty, staff, and students. Today, intercultural IQ is an essential skill in engineering,” says Sanchez, who collaborates with the International Education Services Office to provide intercultural training to students. “Our goal is to evolve Grand Challenges to not only be an interdisciplinary program focused on solving pressing global engineering problems, but also one that serves as a vehicle for students to understand their own cultural awareness and how that influences the way they approach problem-solving.”

Faculty in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) are also engaged in numerous international collaborations. For example, research by Kevin Omland, professor of biological sciences, looks at the critically endangered Bahama Oriole in close collaboration with the Bahamas National Trust. Through this experience students learn field research skills specific to a unique setting and culture and the importance of international collaboration in scientific research.

All the Places You Will Go

Application. Application. Application. The true test of how much students have learned is when they pack their bags and leave UMBC to study abroad, work abroad in fellowships as teachers, or stay local and engage with international communities.

In 1969, the late Walt Sherwin, professor of ancient studies and founding UMBC faculty; Jay Freyman, professor emeritus ancient studies; and Rudy Storch, professor emeritus ancient studies, inaugurated the ancient studies program and the first study abroad program at UMBC, Rome: Ancient and Modern. The popular program continues to this day, engaging travelers in research of ancient civilizations like China, Turkey, Greece, and, next year, England.

The ANCS Study Tour visits the Lion Gates at the Hittite Capital of Hattusa, Turkey.

“The experiences I have had on several of these trips over the years have significantly contributed to my understanding and appreciation of different peoples and cultures, as well as their histories,” said Tessa Baumgartner ’05, ancient studies, a doctor of osteopathic medicine in Arizona. “The trips have also helped me understand my own culture better through an increased understanding of how modern civilization has evolved from ancient ones.”

Today, students have access to affordable, credit-earning, international learning opportunities in 33 countries thanks to the International Education Services Office (IES), which serves as the hub of all inbound and outbound international traffic. It provides individualized support through innovative programming and wrap-around support for: international students accepted to UMBC; students seeking research, study, and teaching opportunities abroad; and faculty-led study abroad courses. It also works with the Fulbright, Gilman, Boren, Critical Language, and Haiyu programs that provide students research opportunities abroad, as well as the You Are Welcome Here program which supports international and refugee students.

“In the last ten years we have had 51 Fulbright recipients, with three students choosing other competitive options,” explains Brian Souders, Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy, and culture, Fulbright Program advisor. “In general, we have gone from one to three recipients a year to seven to eight annually over the past five years.”

Marc Schultz ’18, political science and global studies, who is doing his Fulbright research in Chengdu, China, says his greatest learning comes from daily interactions with locals and the perspective they bring to his own life. “Although my Mandarin language ability is far from flawless, people are patient and encouraging with me, simply happy at the fact that I am trying to communicate with them wholly in their language — for this I am incredibly grateful, particularly knowing that many immigrants to the United States and other western countries are not treated with the same level of patience and kindness, even when their English is perfect but they have a foreign accent.”

Faculty are also leading international courses, which have helped students understand Muslim Tunisian immigrants in Sicily, Italian politics, the evolution of the English language in Amsterdam, engineering in Portugal and Colombia, and more — often collaborating with faculty from other countries.

Milvia Hernandez, Spanish lecturer and coordinator for Spanish Language Teaching in MLLI, leads a Spanish language immersion course in Colombia at the Instituto de Idiomas, Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla. Global studies majors sign up quickly for this educational experience because of its intensive Spanish language immersion and opportunities to volunteer with local school children and their communities.

“Barranquilla is one of the cities Gabriel García Márquez called home. It is Afro-Caribbean, Indigenous, and European, making it an ideal place for living and studying a notably diverse and intercultural population,” explains Hernandez.

Student Tenzin Yangchen wrote a series of blogs during her trip to Italy.

Maggie Holland, associate professor of geography and environmental systems, led a course in sustainable development and conservation in Costa Rica in 2014 that included students from six different study areas. Two years later, Holland reached out to Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, and Matt Fagan, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, to co-teach an interdisciplinary field class in Costa Rica. The course helps students make the links between water, forests, climate change, and people’s livelihoods (smallholder farmers) in the cloud forest region of Monteverde.

Blaney later returned to Costa Rica with the UMBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders to begin a clean water project for a small community. Holland and Blaney are currently on sabbatical in Mozambique and China, respectively, looking for new research opportunities for students.

Global engagement is also local. The Shriver Center, UMBC’s portal for service-learning opportunities and internships, offers students opportunities to engage with local immigrant and refugee communities and the organizations that serve them. For instance, through the College JUMP program, UMBC students help 11thand 12th-grade refugees through the college application process.

Students can also apply their skills locally through international competitions like the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA)-Batten Student Simulation Competition. UMBC’s School of Public Policy participated in the competition for the first time last year, completing a global pandemic simulation. Any student interested in current world affairs can apply to be part of the Model UN, or for those ready to test the professional waters, UMBC offers access to GoinGlobal, an international internship search portal.

The Future of Global Commitment

Collaborations with the University of Limpopo and others means new research possibilities.

Over the last fifty years, advances in technology have made it possible to forge seamless connections with people in the most remote parts of the world. Advances in travel have created lifelong bonds between researchers, students, and communities around the world. And the willingness to cross borders, collaborate, celebrate, and innovate, reminds us all about the significance of fighting intolerance.

Continuous collaboration is at the heart of all international understanding. UMBC is conscious of the importance of a strong commitment to partnerships to work on innovative research and create a network of opportunities for applied learning. Official partnerships that promote student and faculty research opportunities have been established with the University of Porto, Portugal, and University of Kassel, Germany, and three more have been added this past year with The University of Limpopo, South Africa; Universidad de Piura, Peru; and with South Korea.

On September 24, 2018, UMBC joined more than 100 universities, the Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU), and the United Nations in signing the first Declaration of University Global Engagement, a commitment, “to educating students who can successfully live and work in our globally connected world and change it for the better.” The Declaration noted, “We are also committed to discovering, producing, and sharing new solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. These missions require of universities an openness to — and engagement with — ideas, knowledge, and people from all parts of the world.”

UMBC is now also one of 11 colleges and universities in the nation participating in the American Council on Education’s 16th Internationalization Laboratory cohort. The university will go through a process of developing a multi-year plan to support continued growth in international and global engagement initiatives while also reinforcing our standing as one of the world’s top research universities.

David Di Maria, associate vice provost for international education, is thrilled at the future of global commitment at UMBC — and confident that we can help answer the world’s most pressing challenges like climate change, cybersecurity, energy, gender equity, global health, inequality, poverty, sustainable cities, and water.

“The answers will come from communities, companies, and individuals prepared to live and work effectively with individuals and groups whose cultures, languages, nationalities, and worldviews differ from their own,” he explains. “At UMBC we aspire to ensure all members of our community have substantive opportunities to understand and engage with the international and global dimensions of their academic disciplines and increase our capacity to create powerful interconnected solutions together.”

Amy Bhatt shines light on gender and immigration policy in new book High-Tech Housewives

“I am interested in the human face of policy,” says UMBC’s Amy Bhatt. “I want to share the personal narratives of immigrants few people hear about—highly skilled workers—and help us understand their experience as they face questions of citizenship, belonging, and community.”

Bhatt, an associate professor of gender and women’s studies, and affiliate associate professor in the language, literacy, and culture, and Asian studies programs, has made headlines nationwide by providing research-based expertise on contemporary U.S. immigration policy. She’s bringing the conversation to UMBC through a Humanities Forum talk on her new book, High-Tech Housewives: Indian IT Workers, Gendered Labor, and Transmigration, on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 4 – 5:30 p.m., in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.

“Now more than ever, Professor Bhatt’s research is crucial in helping all of us understand the everyday impact of high-skilled immigration,” shares Jessica Berman, professor of English and director of the Dresher Center for the Humanities, which organizes the Humanities Forum. “Thriving academic research communities are enriched by the knowledge and expertise highly-skilled international faculty, staff, and students bring and share.”

H-1B and H-4 visa programs allow skilled workers from South Asian countries to travel with their families to the U.S. to fill needed temporary positions in corporations, hospitals, and universities. Bhatt explains, “U.S. consumers depend on the global flow of goods and services in the tech, healthcare, and higher education sectors.” She notes, “In a global high-tech economy it is important to acknowledge the value that immigrants bring to our lives and how they are being threatened by immigration policy.”

Bhatt’s work focuses on gender as an important and understudied factor at the intersection of immigration law and global economy. She notes that 85 percent of H-1B visa holders are men. Their spouses can join them in the U.S. under the H-4 visa program, but, even if those spouses are themselves highly skilled, they are unable to apply their expertise in the paid workforce. Instead, they often become “high-tech housewives” due to the constraints of immigration law, rather than choice.

“People tend to think about H-1B visa issues as problems that only affect men,” failing to consider the often highly skilled spouses who come with them to the U.S.,” says Bhatt.

“Women’s abilities to migrate—flexibility in foregoing their own careers at times, and work to manage family demands, cultural transmission, connection to home country, and building local relationships—allow their spouses to take highly skilled jobs in the United States,” explains Bhatt. Her research explores how the current visa system not only limits the employment of highly skilled women, but also impacts their identities and day-to-day experiences in other significant ways.

In addition to her recent book, Amy Bhatt has recently published three widely read articles on U.S. and international policy issues and gender through The Conversation, including “Why Trump’s plan to forbid spouses of H-1B visa holders to work is a bad idea.” In that article, Bhatt writes, “H-4 women face a triple burden if they are able to start working again, particularly in technology: race, gender and long gaps in their resumes.”

Whether sharing her work through academic publications or news media like the Seattle Times, Bhatt’s overall message is the same.

“It is an urgent call for all of to pay attention,” she says, “to changes in immigration trends, globalization, how businesses are thinking about labour pools, and how we think of gender and women in the family in these economic and political processes.”

 

Banner image: Amy Bhatt. Photo courtesy of Amy Bhatt.

 

The Power of a Shared Meal

This time of year, students, faculty, and staff are rushing about preparing travel plans to meet with friends and loved ones. Kitchens are brimming with the scents of family recipes and the sounds of laughter as sneaky hands try to taste the Thanksgiving dishes before they debut on the table. Coming together to sit around a table with family and friends is a simple but very powerful way of making a pure human connection we try to recreate all year long.

The act is so powerful, it becomes an act of thanks in itself as we indulge in loving company, conversation, and familiar (and sometimes new) dishes.

It was through this extending of hands and pulling together as a community that on Saturday, November 10th our UMBC family, represented by the Shriver Center, Transportation Services, Off-Campus Student Services/Veteran Services, and alumni, joined forces with Tabrizi’s Restaurant, and a myriad of community partners to serve more than 220 military veterans experiencing homelessness. All came together to share the power of a community meal to value each others’ experiences, stories, and memories. Because in the end, it is not what we share or how we share, but more importantly that we take the time to share with as many at the table as possible.

Turning a meal into a movement

Volunteers from UMBC and the community prepare to serve more than 220 homeless veterans Thanksgiving dinner.

Michael Tabrizi, owner of Tabrizi’s Restaurant and wedding venue in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, understood the power of this exchange year-round from interactions with the vast number of homeless people around his place of business. Thinking about how he could provide the power of a shared meal, three years ago Tabrizi hosted a “Homeless Restaurant Week,” inviting those experiencing homelessness to the restaurant in lieu of hosting traditional restaurant week meals. He then started A Chef’s Table Foundation with an aim of one day opening a restaurant that provides training opportunities for homeless individuals. Last year, he hosted a Thanksgiving meal for military veterans experiencing homelessness. He served 162 veterans with limited transportation.

“All I wanted is to make the homeless people feel some dignity, hope, and believe that there is still much good in the world. The homeless feel forgotten; not acknowledged as a person, a life, a human being, and that is very sad,” said Tabrizi to Food Newsfeed. “I hope this will restore some respect and dignity. I owe that to them.”

When Hannah Schmitz, assistant director of applied learning and community engagement at the Shriver Center, heard about this vision she knew that it was an opportunity to do what the Shriver Center does best – leverage the resources of the university to connect with the community.

“I was speaking with Michael Tabrizi one night while I was at his restaurant and he mentioned these events and that transportation is the greatest barrier for getting people in poverty to come to the dinners. I kicked into work mode and thought about the resources that UMBC has and how we could potentially partner,” says Schmitz. Over the past two years she has volunteered as the event coordinator, managed volunteers, worked with organizations serving military veterans who are homeless, and spearheaded fundraising for gifts and raffle prize donations.

Serving humanity

The call was heard far and wide. Along with other members of the Shriver Center, Daniel Teage ’09, health administration and policy, associate director of transportation services, and Joe Regier, executive director of UMBC transit and community connections, provided UMBC shuttles to transport veterans from various locations. “Many people assume that UMBC Transit is just about buses and shuttles but they are really committed to community engagement and bridging the campus and community through transit,” explains Schmitz.

Antonio Silas, director of off-campus student services/veteran services, was also on board to engage UMBC’s student veterans and students from military families to greet, serve, and dine with the guests. And Winston Zhou ‘19, visual arts, volunteered his talents as a photographer.

“My mom is a retired Marine and my dad and step-dad are both former Marines, as well,” reflects Donnya Stagg ’19, global studies, who volunteered as a server. “Military personnel give up a lot and often don’t get much in return. I wanted to help veterans see how appreciative people are of their sacrifices. Giving my time at the dinner was one small way I could do that.”

Mary Slicher ’73, sociology, executive director and co-founder of Project PLASE (People Lacking Ample Shelter & Employment), was happy to participate in this special Thanksgiving meal. The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training; The Baltimore Station; and Loch Raven VA Community Living and Rehabilitation Center also participated. Under Armour donated hundreds of clothes, hats, and shoes, making it possible for each guest could choose up to three items.

“There are vets who did not have a great transition out of the military. There are some who did not retire but who did a tour in Iraq but did not finish or finished and did not have the support, resources, and help that we have today,” Donovan S. Garrett ’19, business technology administration; undergraduate assistant for Veterans Student Services and the Adult Learner Network; and six- year active duty Air Force veteran, currently in the reserves., “It was so nice to be able to sit with another vet and have the time to connect and to listen to their experience and reestablish a human element, a bond, build understanding — that is the most important thing about a shared meal.”

Photos by Winston Zhou ‘19 for UMBC Magazine.

UMBC joins innovative ACE Internationalization Lab, expanding commitment to global engagement

UMBC is expanding and deepening its long-term commitment to internationalization as a member of the American Council on Education (ACE) Internationalization Laboratory program. UMBC is one of just 12 higher education institutions nationwide to participate in the 16th cohort of this selective program, which supports universities in broadening internationally-focused strategies.

“This is a tremendous, unmatched opportunity for these institutions to share lessons and challenges as they undergo a cultural transformation over the coming months,” said Robin Matross Helms, director of ACE’s Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement.

Over the next 16 months, faculty and staff will work in leadership teams to develop strategic plans for the future of research, learning, working, and living in a fully global campus. UMBC will share its unique perspective with other universities in the cohort and take part in a series of opportunities to gain insight into how other institutions are implementing their strategic plans for internationalization.

Each participating institution’s strategic process will be led by an ACE lab advisor and coach. UMBC will work with Anthony Pinder, assistant vice president of academic affairs, internationalization and global engagement, at Emerson College. His first visit to UMBC will be on December 13.

“UMBC’s participation in this year’s cohort of the ACE Internationalization Laboratory is a key component in our work to create the university’s first-ever internationalization roadmap,” shares Tony Moreira, vice provost for academic affairs. “Given today’s global landscape for higher education, universities need to implement international, intercultural, and global elements in all areas of the institution to ensure that they stay relevant and continue to provide a high-quality education to all students.”

UMBC celebrates 40 years of the W. E. B. Du Bois Lecture with talk on genetics, race, and racism

UMBC has a long tradition of honoring and promoting thoughtful analysis of diverse scholarship and continues this focus through the annual W. E. B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the event, created by UMBC’s Africana studies department to honor the depth and range of applied scholarship for which Du Bois was known. Each year, the department invites a distinguished scholar or activist to share their work, to mark progress towards dismantling inequalities and to identify the work that remains on the path toward achieving full equality for people of African descent.

This year, Dorothy E. Roberts, professor of law and sociology and Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as the distinguished speaker. Her lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. She will critically examine collaborations between biological and social scientists involved in sequencing the human genome and linking social outcomes to genetic traits. Her talk will propose “a more just way for social and biological scientists to study race and racism.”

In addition to providing a space to learn about and discuss Roberts’s research, the lecture will also offer an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of Du Bois “as a preeminent and influential intellectual, scholar, public figure, writer, and ardent Pan-African activist” through the lens of contemporary research about race and racism, says Gloria Chuku, professor and chair of Africana studies.

W.E.B. Du Bois was a sociologist, historian, and social activist, and the first African American person to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His scholarship (including The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study) is foundational to today’s research on the health, economic, and social impacts of racism.

In addition to scientific scholarship Du Bois, became famous for writing The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903, which became a foundational text of American literature and history of sociology, including poetry, autobiographical essays, historical articles, and memoir. Du Bois also founded the Niagara Movement and was among the founders of the NAACP. He was adamant about the importance of education to provide access and freedom for African Americans, other people of African descent, and women.

UMBC’s annual W.E.B. Du Bois lecture series “provides an important platform for intellectual dialogue on crucial aspects of African American experiences and those of peoples of African descent,” says Chuku. “It offers us an opportunity to draw inspiration from Du Bois’s scholarship and activism.”

Banner image: W. E. B. Du Bois. Photo from creative commons. 

UMBC’s Ashe and Berry-McCrea earn national honors for doctoral research addressing inequities

UMBC doctoral student Jason Ashe and new Ph.D. recipient Erin Berry-McCrea have been selected for notable national honors as emerging leaders in work to address inequalities, in health care and in educational and professional spaces.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has selected Ashe, a human services psychology doctoral student, for its prestigious Health Policy Research Scholar leadership development program. The program is designed for second-year doctoral students from underrepresented populations and disadvantaged backgrounds who want to apply their work to policies that advance equity and health. RWJF seeks to build a diverse field of health policy research leaders who reflect our changing national demographics.

Berry-McCrea, who successfully defended her dissertation in language, literacy, and culture this fall, received the 2018 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Early Career Educator of Color (ECOC) Leadership Award. Barry-McCrea’s research focuses on how millennial Black women create and utilize digital spaces and tools in navigating professional and educational experiences. The award she received recognizes educators of color in the first years of their faculty careers, providing two years of mentorship to support research development, and funding to attend the ECOC Institute and the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention.

Intersection of health and faith

Ashe is focused on applying his research on Black religious beliefs, spirituality, and racial and ethnic health disparities to develop more inclusive and responsive medical practices and to reduce health inequities.

As a first-generation American, Ashe witnessed his parents face major challenges in everyday life in The Bronx, New York, during the 1980s. Both came to the United States from Antigua in search of more opportunities. His father gained citizenship through the Navy and his mother worked as a housemaid. Growing up, Ashe recalls his parents dealing with doctors who laughed at their accents and disregarded their ailments and their belief systems.

“When I was studying pre-med chemistry, I had a lot of existential questions of life and death that I could not find answers for. At divinity school I was able to take Christian bioethics, which led me to ask more questions about people who don’t have the choice to die peacefully,” explains Ashe. “I understood then that I wasn’t interested in being a physician and focusing on palliative care, but on answering more systemic-level questions about health and dying, specifically in Black communities.”

That is what led Ashe to UMBC’s psychology Ph.D. program. “I wanted to understand the psychology of religion and health identity,” he says. “What does advocacy look like and how do we use our scholarship so that erroneous claims are not made to justify inequities in communities of color?”

Ashe found a mentor in Danielle L. Beatty Moody, psychology. The Human Services Psychology program she leads presented an avenue for him to apply his research, ideas, and innovative perspective. Moving forward, he hopes to create real change in communities of color and the medical community.

“Jason came with little exposure to psychology but came here with such a depth in math and science from MIT and two master’s degrees in theology and divinity from Duke. He wanted to bring those pieces together to create understanding around the health of Black folks,” explains Beatty Moody. “Jason was ready for the challenge of what it takes to move the needle so that we are not just talking to other academics, but applying our research to improve people’s lives.”

Creating supportive digital spaces for and by Black women

Berry-McCrea is applying her research in digital and media literacy to bring awareness to the online linguistic practices of Black women who create brave spaces to manage professional and social issues unique to their experiences.

Berry-McCrea’s graduate mentor, Christine Mallinson, professor of language, literacy and culture, and director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship, describes her work as essential for anyone concerned with educational justice and wanting to help, work with, and engage students of color in developing agency as engaged communicators.

“There’s no question that language shapes, and is shaped by, our social identities—both online and offline,” says Mallinson. “Erin’s work gives us a student-centered and culturally informed understanding of what factors shape Black collegiate women’s linguistic choices, both in terms of how they navigate the complex landscape of higher education, as well as how they find and create spaces—often online—where they can communicate in ways that are authentic to themselves.”

Berry-McCrea’s experiences in higher education both as a student and as an educator have given her a window into the many contradicting messages that Black women receive. “As I climbed the ladder of academia I saw less people like me and more people that made negative assumptions about who I was because I was Black,” she says. “I’ve also had my Black female students share their own experiences with professors that placed negative labels and expectations on them. It was very clear that to be a professional academic for Black women meant deleting any trace of themselves in the way they spoke, looked, and carried themselves.”

These experiences have led Black millennial women to create unique digital spaces, Berry-McCrea notes, and these spaces have formed the basis of her research. Berry-McCrea found that Black millennial women often seek refuge, support, and resources through the immediacy and wide geographic net of social media.

Berry-McCrea defending her dissertation at UMBC this fall.

“Black collegiate women could post their experiences on social media and immediately receive validation of their experience, support from peers, and resources to move from isolation to finding a place to succeed even within these parameters without having to give up what was authentic to them,” she explains.

Berry-McCrea recently published this research in the journal Meridians, through the article “‘To My Girls in Therapy, See Imma Tell You This for Free …’: Black Millennial Women Speaking Truth to Power in and across the Digital Landscape.” She is now an assistant professor of media and communication studies at St. Augustine University in North Carolina.

Banner image: Ashe at UMBC’s 2017 Fall Opening Meeting. Photo Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

New Fulbright Accelerator connects CAHSS faculty with international opportunities

“My Fulbright experience changed the course of my life and my career,” remembers Eugene C. Schaffer, professor of education.

Early in his career, Shaffer earned a Fulbright Scholar award to bring his knowledge of curriculum development and teaching practices to a collaboration with Taiwanese educators for two years. “There is always so much to learn and understand about history and how different cultures work together to hope for peace,” he says. “My work in Taiwan helped me to see the need for sharing research on innovative and effective curriculum practices globally.” Shaffer went on to travel the world and lived and worked with educators in the UK and Japan. Recently, he earned another Fulbright to work with educators in Kosovo. “The most salient takeaway of my Fulbright experiences is how much the cultures and the people gave to me. I am a better teacher and a better person for trying to understand another cultural form,” shares Shaffer.

UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is working to connect more faculty with Fulbright opportunities, particularly given CAHSS faculty’s long and successful history of transformative international research and teaching. UMBC faculty have already completed Fulbrights on every continent except Antarctica, and there’s great interest in expanding their international work even further.

“We have had tremendous success with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program,” says Brian Souders, Ph.D. ’09, language literacy, and culture, and Fulbright Program advisor. “We hope that by promoting this opportunity with CAHSS faculty, we can encourage similar success with faculty awards.”

UMBC’s Office of International Education; Center for Social Science Scholarship; Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA); and Dresher Center for the Humanities are partnering with the Council of the International Exchange of Scholars (which sponsors the Fulbright Scholar Programs) to host the first CAHSS Fulbright Accelerator. All CAHSS faculty are invited to attend the session on Monday, November 5, at noon, in Performing Arts and Humanities Building room 216.

Through the Fulbright Accelerator, faculty will learn more about semester- and year-long fellowships, short-term research stays, teaching visits, and postdoctoral scholarships the Fulbright Program offers. Along with Schaffer, former CAHSS Fulbright Scholars across the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences will share their experiences.

Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology, just returned from her Fulbright experience in Italy this summer and will present at the Fulbright Accelerator. She worked with groups of Tunisian Muslim adolescents to try to understand how they and their families adapted to Italian culture. “The more I immersed myself in the community,” says Cheah, “the more questions I had about how these adolescents navigate their intersecting religious, ethnic, and national identities across family, school, community, particularly with the current socio-political climate in Italy.” She hopes these insights will help her gain some comparative insights with her work with Muslim adolescents in Maryland.

Charissa Cheah in Italy Fulbright Program celebration.

John Stolle-McAllister, associate dean of CAHSS, will share his experience as a Fulbright Scholar in Ecuador researching indigenous identity. “I was able to bring my wife, my son, and daughter. By the end of our year we all were more fluent and part of the local community,” remembers Stolle-McAllister.

“The most profound part of my Fulbright experience was being open to letting go of assumptions and go deeper into my research in a way I could not have done at home,” Stolle-Mcallister says. “What I found were more complex questions and layered answers that helped me to gain a broader perspective.”

John Stolle-McAllister in Ecuador Fulbright Program.

Tim Nohe, professor of visual arts and director of CIRCA, will represent the visual arts Fulbright experience along with Eric Dyer, associate professor of animation and interactive media who will share his scholarship in Denmark. Nohe’s work engages with traditional and electronic media in public spaces and in daily life, and he has worked in close collaboration with artist colleagues in Australia. In one video produced in collaboration with composer Warren Burt and broadcast across Australia by the ABC Classic network, Nohe worked under the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge:

Through international work, says Nohe, “Scholars transform their teaching and scope of experience and share that with UMBC faculty and students. The perspective and broad scope of references is truly invaluable, and we as scholars serve as ambassadors for our institutions abroad.”

Featured image: International flags in the UMBC Commons. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC welcomes Dana Bradley as new dean of the Erickson School for Aging Studies

Dana Bradley, the new dean of the Erickson School for Aging Studies, considers herself an accidental gerontologist. Many leaders in aging services are inspired to work in the field through personal experiences with family members aging, but Bradley’s interest emerged in the classroom. She began to pursue research on programs and services for older adults and their families as a graduate student through curiosity about big questions and a passion for innovation across disciplines.

“I knew I would always find an interesting job in the field of aging,” says Bradley. “I came to UMBC because the Erickson School’s focus is on leading and being on the edge through engaged scholarship with endless possibilities.”

Bradley holds a Ph.D. in applied history and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University and has served in faculty and leadership positions at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Western Kentucky University, where she directed the Center for Gerontology. At UMBC, in addition to serving as dean of the Erickson School, she is a professor of sociology, anthropology, and health administration and policy, and serves on the advisory board The Hilltop Institute, which focuses on healthcare policy.

Addressing the process of aging

Throughout her career, Bradley’s goal has been to help people understand the process of aging. “We are all aging,” she explains. “The better we understand how people manage life as they age the better products, services, and living environments we can create, with a lasting impact for our families and communities.”

This spirit of empowerment about how we think of aging led Bradley to become a founding member of the Global Aging Research Network and leader in the Age-Friendly Cities movement. In recognition of her decades of contributions to the field, she was elected a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Bradley is energized by the breadth of expertise in the Erickson School, and the opportunities available through UMBC ’s entrepreneurial and collaborative culture, and close proximity to Washington D.C. “The Erickson School covers a lot of policy issues and issues that are not related to long-term care,” she shares. “We are developing programs and research collaborations looking at how we support and maintain people as they age in the workforce, whether that may be out of choice or because they may not be able to afford retirement. We want to innovate solutions for a workforce that is engaged much longer than ever before.”

Calling all innovators

Innovation, engaged research, and collaboration all have one thing in common, Bradley points out — questions. “The questions are mind-boggling,” she says. It isn’t just how to serve an aging workforce that keeps her busy but looking beyond. Bradley believes, “This is a world where engineers, designers, coders, visual artists, musicians, writers, mathematicians, economists—you name it—they are all needed to design living, working, and transportation spaces that are responsive to how humans age. This is a collective question that needs answers from all fields.”

For the year ahead, Bradley is particularly excited about the Erickson School’s annual summit for leading researchers in memory care at Disney World. Even in the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Dr. Bradley is applying research to help create inclusive experiences. “This year we are focusing on creating environments which are supportive for people with dementia,” she says. “We are spending some time behind the scenes at Disney World, understanding how they as a company think about that issue with their guests.”

Whether it’s in the classroom, at an academic conference, or working with a company or a community, Bradley explains, “Our work is always about supporting engaged conversations to discuss aging given the resources and tools to plan and act accordingly, to be responsible and ethical citizens, to be engaged with people of many different ages in their lifetime.”

Banner image: Dean Bradley outside of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC’s McNair Scholars Program prepares the next generation of leading researchers

What does it take to be a professor? That is exactly the type of question the McNair Scholars Program wants students to ask early on in their undergraduate years. The national program prepares talented students who are first-generation and low-income, or from other underrepresented groups, for doctoral study. Over 200 McNair Scholars from UMBC and other universities across the nation recently gathered at UMBC for a McNair Scholars National Research Conference to share their work and connect with faculty mentors and each other.

The McNair Scholars Program was created in memory of Ronald E. McNair, physicist and NASA astronaut who lost his life on the Challenger mission. UMBC has carried on McNair’s legacy for 26 years through a highly active McNair Scholars chapter. Over 300 UMBC students have tapped into the academic, social, professional, and personal support the national program offers via workshops, trainings, conferences, and networking events. Students traditionally enter the program their junior year, but applicants are welcome to apply earlier so they can benefit even more.

The conference experience

As a first-time conference participant, Luwam Gebreyesus ‘19, health administration and policy, was in awe of the diversity of research and thought among her peers. “I joined my junior year and I wish I knew about the program earlier. I always knew that I would pursue a doctorate degree,” says Gebreyesus, who studies trauma and sound. “McNair has been a catalyst for opening my eyes to how much preparation goes into getting ready for a Ph.D program, connecting me to resources, and developing in me the agency to embrace being ambitious and successful.”

While the conference is a platform for UMBC student scholars to share their own research, it also offers them important opportunities to gain skills organizing and hosting an academic conference. Networking is also a fundamental part of the experience. Students value the opportunity to connect with peers with similar backgrounds, and also practice the skills involved in building professional relationships.

Blake Hipsley ‘19, physics and math, presented a poster on his research on different materials that can maximize imaging frequencies in fields like medicine. “Neither one of my parents earned a college degree. I didn’t have anyone I could relate to tell me how to get into graduate school,” says Hipsley. “McNair helped me access a network of people to help me develop research skills and manage the graduate school application process. Now I tutor other students in math to help them with their graduate school entrance exams.”

The impact of mentors

Mentorship is crucial to the success of McNair Scholars. Faculty, staff, and alumni can become McNair Mentors or Faculty Research Mentors, to support students as they navigate the graduate school preparation process.

Maria Sanchez, mechanical engineering, and director of education and outreach for the College of Engineering and Information Technology, was drawn to the McNair mission and offered inspiring words for the attendees as the keynote speaker. “As a woman in mechanical engineering, I always struggled with feeling out of place,” Sanchez reflected. “After I came to the United States to attend graduate school and became part of another underrepresented group, I understood that I have a responsibility to other women and Hispanics that are trying to do the same.”

Sanchez sees a direct link between faculty sharing their journeys and students feeling like they are not alone in a challenging yet rewarding path. “I know now that we need to embrace the differences that we bring and recognize them as assets and advantages,” she shared with the group. “I hope that by participating in events such as the McNair conference, I could give strength to those that are struggling in the same way that I did.”

The conference also offered an opportunity for faculty who were themselves McNair Scholars as undergraduates to share their journeys with today’s students. UMBC’s Earl Brooks, assistant professor of English, and Christine Hawn, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, moderated a conference panel. “The McNair program was critical for me, and it was awesome to experience being on the other side of things as a faculty member,” said Brooks. “The conference is such a great opportunity for students to gain the experiences of presenting their research.”

Participating students also spoke to the profound impact that mentorship can have. Damarius Johnson ‘19, Africana studies, transferred to UMBC from the Community College of Baltimore County Essex, where he learned about the McNair Scholars and about UMBC as a place to help him prepare for his Ph.D. aspirations.

“I would not have been able to come to UMBC and be in this program if not for the fact that I had mentors who made it possible for me,” said Johnson. “If I can do that for other people that would be a very powerful thing because I am the first in my family to get a college education. The mentors have helped me see that my dreams are possible.”

Future scholars

As assistant director of the McNair Scholars Program at UMBC, Michael Hunt ‘06, mathematics, Ph.D. ‘25, language literacy and culture, sees the program’s impact both in the opportunities it creates for students and in the value of scholarship those students produce. “McNair scholars are doing important work in math, science, the humanities, and the arts,” he notes.

Hunt hopes to continue to grow the program and is working to connect with eligible students as early as possible in their UMBC careers. He emphasizes, “There should not be any student that limits their aspirations because they are unsure how to pursue a Ph.D. or because of financial constraints.”

Current and prospective UMBC students can learn more about the McNair Scholars Program by completing this brief interest form at any time. The application window is December 1 – February 8. Faculty and staff interested in mentoring can contact program staff at any time through the McNair Scholars website. 

Banner Image: McNair Scholars induction ceremony with Peter DeCrescenzo, project coordinator (L))  and Michael Hunt, assistant director (right). All photos by Eric Stocklin.

UMBC UMBC
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 Directions & Parking

Resources

Important Contacts

Emergency Info

Contact Us

Apply

Top Stories of the Week

© UMBC: A University System of Maryland Member Institution